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August 29, 2012

I usually have Wednesdays off. It was nice having a day off in the middle of the week to spend some time with my son. We'd go to the zoo, the children's museum, the park or the library. But guess what?

He's in school every day now so I'm on my own. You think I'd get a lot accomplished but I've managed to waste most of the day on the computer.

My husband and I celebrated 8 years of wedded bliss last week. I thought we agreed to not exchange gifts but he bought me a new camera. I love it and I'm not going to feel guilty I didn't buy him anything!

(After years of taking pictures with a point-and-shoot digital camera, a phone and an iPod, it seems really awkward to hold a camera up to your face!)

They are easy and a lot of fun but time-consuming. It's a great way to use scraps and the final quilt should be pretty awesome. I've enjoyed making my two blocks but I don't know if I could make a whole quilt by myself. Today I'm going to try to finish my second block.

Maybe I should start quilting my polka dot pinwheels? It's only been hanging on the back of the couch for most of August.

August 14, 2012

My son starts kindergarten tomorrow and this morning I dropped him off for his last day of daycare. At least I made it back to the car before I started crying. He's been attending the same daycare since he was 6 weeks old so we'll miss seeing the staff on a daily basis. I wanted to make a little something to thank the staff for taking such great care of our son over the past 5+ years. I came up with this:

Homemade cookies would have been a nice touch but I've worked the 6 days leading up the start of school so I just ran out of time. Fortunately the Keebler Elves came to my rescue and I purchased 3 packages of cookies on sale for $1.99 each. (And those Keebler Elves are pretty good little bakers.) Simply put the cookies in a cellophane bag ($1 for 2 bags at Dollar Tree). I had to cut 8 inches off the top of the bag because it was a little big. Tie with a ribbon and use a binder clip and attach a cute tag (printed fom my computer):

I also included a handmade thank you card.

It's not easy leaving your kid(s) everyday to go to work but knowing they're in good hands and being cared for and loved while you're away makes it a little better. Thank you to the wonderful daycare providers at Immanuel CDC! We will miss you!

(And fingers crossed that I make it through tomorrow without any major breakdowns!)

August 10, 2012

I'm working on completing my August goals, and I was able to finish my quilt-as-you-go kindle case before we went on our mini vacation to Kansas City. I used this tutorial to make 2 quilted panels. This technique is so much fun. I love using scraps to create something fun and functional. Here's the first one I made.

Front of the bag.

Back of the bag.

I like how the "front" panel turned out--it's a better combination of colors and patterns. (And am I the only person who assigns "front" and "back" to projects that are really non-directional? I do the same thing with my quilts--they immediately get a "top" and "bottom" even though it could go either way.) I used Kona coal for the lining.

I left enough room to add a snap at the top. . .which I haven't done yet, of course. It works well even without a closure. I used this tutorial as a guide but ended up only using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. I don't know if my kindle is thicker or if the batting took up that much room but it was a tight fit with a 1/2 inch seam allowance!

And since you're dying to see some vacation photos, I'm happy to oblige. . .

Hubby and son before the LEGOLAND 3D movie.

LEGOLAND

A rare photo of me and my son (since I am always the photographer).

Hubby and son.

I love Kansas City. I could walk around all day taking pictures in front of fountains!

August 2, 2012

Finish my friend's stacked coins baby quilt. Her baby shower is this Saturday so I have to complete this one! I worked on it a lot this week so I just have to finish the binding. Done! (And I love how it turned out!)

August 1, 2012

Is it really August already? I'm not sure where the summer went. My little guy starts kindergarten 2 weeks from today. How does your child transform from this:

to this:

right before your eyes? *sigh*

Anyway, on to the crafty recap for the week. I cut charms for 2 more fabric swaps--an "i spy" swap and a Christmas in July swap. I just need to get them mailed off then no more swaps for awhile. Maybe.

I started planning another quilt block for the QuiltCon Block Challenge. I'm going to make a block version of a stacked coins quilt.

And finally I finished my polka dot pinwheels quilt top using charm squares from the very first fabric swap I participated in--a polka dot charm swap. I made it using half square triangles; some of my points matched up perfectly and some not so much. I bought some more Kona medium gray to back it so I'm hoping to make the quilt sandwich and pin it tonight--my least favorite part of quilting. Then maybe I can start quilting it tomorrow morning before I have to go to work.

If you make quilts and are looking for a worthwhile cause to support, Craft Hope just announced that Project 18: Quilts for Hope will support Phoenix Quilts. The goal is to collect 849 handmade quilts for the victims of the summer wildfires. I have at least one blanket I'm going to donate and you can even donate quilt tops or fabric. Spread hope!